In a battle of UFC veterans, Nebraskan slugger Houston Alexander earned a stoppage of Razak Al-Hassan after a cageside doctor recommended “Razor” not answer the bell for the third round.

The bout served as the featured contest of Saturday night’s MMA Fight Pit debut event, “Genesis,” which took place at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.

The evening’s main card aired on pay-per-view.

Al-Hassan opened with a kick-heavy attack, but it was Alexander who struck first by flooring his opponent with a short left hand. Al-Hassan worked back to his feet and tried to continue with the leg-based attacks, but “The Assassin” continued to hold the edge via punches.

In the second, the two continued their respective strategies, though Alexander seemed to hold a slight edge. The pace began to slow, earning the ire of the crowd, before a surprising end to the bout emerged.

Between frames, Al-Hassan revealed an ailing hand, which a cageside doctor said appeared to be a dislocated finger. The injury halted the bout before the beginning of the third.

“I wanted to prove that I was conditioned for this fight,” Alexander said after the win. “I’m disappointed in the early stoppage, but it happens.”

With the win, Alexander (13-6) has now won four-straight fights. Al-Hassan (11-4) has fallen short in his past two outings.

The action started early with both fighters landing punches and kicks as the circled the cage. However, a trademark Pulver left hook saw Wheeler wobbled, and a follow-up punch sent him to the deck shortly after. Wheeler worked quickly back to his feet, but it was a precursor for the action still to come.

In the second, Wheeler tried to land a comeback blow, but it was Pulver who tattooed his opponent with another left hook. “Little Evil” followed to the floor, though it appeared the fight was essentially over. Instead, a woozy Wheeler returned to his feet only to be deposited again on the deck. Pulver looked to referee Robert Romero to halt the fight, and he finally did at the 1:59 mark of the second.

Following his win, the longtime veteran admitted his struggles with the mental side of the sport continue, but he felt the performance was a positive sign.

“I’ve been reading about the Tao mind,” Pulver said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a mental fighter, and I have a lot of mental issues. All month getting prepared for this fight, I knew I was going to be the underdog. I didn’t want to get inside that cage and have that feeling. I just kept breathing and focusing how I wanted the fight to go.

“I pictured the crowd booing, and I pictured finding my corner. I kept saying ‘Bo Jangles,’ which is my daughter’s nickname. I used that as my center. The whole time I just kept saying, ‘Bo Jangles, Bo Jangles.'”

With the TKO result, Pulver (25-15-1) improves to 3-1 in his past four outings. Wheeler (14-4) sees a two-fight win streak snapped.

East rolls, Parks pulls upset in early main-card action

In heavyweight action, Tyler East (10-3) continued his six-bout win streak with a first-round stoppage of an outgunned Prince McLean (7-7). East evaded an early onslaught for Prince and quickly took the fight to the floor. Prince was unable to escape from the bottom, and East poured on the offense until the stoppage came just 93 seconds into the fight.

In a main-card upset, wrestling standout Willie Parks (4-1) looked dominant during the opening round by controlling the action from top position over “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ vet Jamie Yager (4-2). However, “The Chosyn 1″ pulled the upset in the next round with a deftly applied guillotine choke that ended the fight just 21 seconds into the frame.

In the night’s lone female contest, Diana Rael (3-1) edged New Mexican fighter Angelica Chavez (4-1) via split decision. The opening two rounds featured exciting grappling on the floor and earnest submission attempts by both. The third round saw a slight drop in pace in a frame contested generally in the standup department, but Rael did just enough to get a split-decision result.

In the evening’s main-card opening contest, “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ veteran Junie Browning (4-5) engaged in a back-and-forth grappling affair with Jacob Clark (9-3) in the opening minutes of their bout. However, Clark took advantage of a restart be securing a takedown and unleashing an impressive ground-and-pound barrage. Browning turned and rolled but could not escape and elected to tap out with 42 seconds left in the first.

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – just six fights into her UFC career. Check out all the post-fight facts, including Rousey’s latest achievements, about UFC 190.